A judge explains what can happen if you don't pay parking tickets

Judge Michael Corriero explains what can happen if you keep getting parking tickets and don’t pay them. Judge Corriero served on the bench for 28 years and was elected to the New York State Supreme Court. He’s currently the cohost of Hot Bench and is the founder of the New York Center for Juvenile Justice. Following is a transcript of the video.

You got to pay them. You think because you’re a judge that you get some advantage? No, I’ve had to pay all my parking tickets.

First of all, if you amass a significant amount of parking tickets the key thing is that interest and fines can be attached to those — so if you get a $US100 parking ticket and you ignore it, it could go to $US1,000 after a while, and if you get so much so, the city can get a judgment against you.

They can seize your vehicle. They can screw up your credit. Let’s say you get 10 parking tickets in New York and you move to California, and you don’t pay the parking tickets in New York, the moment you violate them, you can become liable for whatever penalties or fines the municipality decided was reasonable for the infraction. It doesn’t evaporate just because you move out of town.

You always have a better shot at going in and saying — and being humble about it and saying, “Yeah, I’d like to resolve this, but here’s my problem.” Most clerks working are going to say, they’re people too, they get tickets too, they say, “Sure how much time do you need? Come back. But don’t ignore me. Don’t make a fool of me.”

If I had one theme, it’s honesty is the best policy, always. Always. Or — don’t say anything.